Sanguine
by SabineAmnell
Summary: In this sequel to Mysterieuse, Scully is drawn into a case where the FBI is not wanted, but Bill Scully's life ay be at risk. Mulder and Bill have never seen eye to eye and Mulder will have to be caught in between Scully and her brother as they investigate a violent and elusive serial killer. Set after One Son, where Mulder and Scully are back on the X-Files. Please R&R!
1. Peacetime

USNS Comfort, Baltimore, MD

2:01am

Bill Scully glanced over at the lower officer who was attempting to explain why he had missed the 1am curfew. The stern Lieutenant was never one to give much leeway and glared at the younger Seaman with disapproval, clearly not going to allow him to get away with it.

"Come on, if you'd have seen her..." The Seaman was dumbed by Bill clearing his throat. All business now, the younger man sighed in resignation.

Just as Bill pulled out an official report of the tardy officer the lights flickered and went out. Before either man could react and huge force shoved Bill to the ground. He could hear the other man wailing in pain as he too hit the ground. Wetness sprayed Bill's face as he struggled for his gun. A huge weight held him down, but he could clearly feel a hand on his chest. Bill was not a small man but his struggles barely made an impact.

The other man stopped screaming and with a dim moan, went silent. Bill felt a sharp and intense pain in his chest and felt hot blood begin to run over his neck. Releasing his weapon from its holster at his hip, he simply began pulling the trigger, pointing it in the direction of the mass on top of him. The weight eased instantly and Bill was alone in the dark.

The screams had alerted anyone on the ship who had been near and the glow of flashlights approached quickly. Before reaching him, one of the men responding slipped on the floor.

"Blood!" Bill heard him say.

"Oh my God." Said another.

"Lieutenant Scully." The flashlight was in his eyes, but Bill pushed himself in a sitting position with a groan. He looked beside him and could just make out the form of the Seaman's devastated body. His limbs weakened and he fell back down. He found he couldn't move before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Washington DC

1 day later

4:38am

The beeping ring took some time to wake the sleeping agent. Beneath her coverlet, Agent Dana Scully began to stir. Finally roused by the insistent and high pitched ring, she became alert quickly knowing that it was unlikely that a call at this hour would be trivial.

The phone's display said 'Mom' and Scully sat up, "Mom?" She inquired after pushing the 'Talk' button. Margaret Scully's faint voice began on the other end.

Sleepily, Agent Fox Mulder turned toward his partner, a little slower to wake, but realizing the urgency of such a call.

"Mom, what happened?" Scully had a phone call similar to this to tell her that her father had died. _Not Bill too,_ she begged silently.

By now, Mulder was also sitting up, his hazel green eyes intent on Scully, listening carefully and trying to get as much of the situation from only one side of the conversation as possible.

"Is he alright?" Scully's voice was full of anxiety and Mulder instinctively put a hand on her arm, "I'll be right there."

When she hung up, Mulder asked, "What happened?"

"Bill was hurt, attacked." She said, clearly having few details to go on, "Mom's on her way to the hospital in Baltimore, I'm going to meet her down there."

"Do you want me to come?" Mulder asked, knowing that Bill Scully was not his biggest fan.

"No, it's fine." Scully said, denying him for many reasons, most of which he probably already knew. It was not widely known that they had begun a romantic relationship and these were not the circumstances that Scully wanted to bring it to light. Bill would be uncomfortable with Mulder there as the two had never gotten along. She dressed quickly, "I'll keep in touch."

Mulder nodded, unwilling to argue the point about going with her, but it was clear that he'd be getting no more sleep.

* * *

When Scully entered the hospital over an hour later, her mother greeted her in the hall. They didn't speak as Margaret led her daughter to Bill's room. Bill was wide awake and smiled at his sister as she entered, "Hi Dana."

Scully hugged her brother but backed off as soon as he grunted in pain, "Bill, what happened? Mom said you were attacked."

"Yeah, some kind of animal. Everything is still a little fuzzy," Bill confessed, "And, I'm afraid Mom may have worried you needlessly." He pulled down his hospital gown to reveal a bandage on his chest, "Ten stitches patched me up. I was lucky."

"What happened?" Scully asked again, examining the bandages. She pulled on the tape to see the wound and nearly gasped. The skin had been torn and not cleanly, this was no knife or bullet wound.

"It's still under investigation," Bill began, pushing his bandage back on, clearly shutting his sister out, "I can't really talk about what happened until things are more clear."

Scully sensed there was more to the story than an attack, "Were you the only one hurt?" she wanted to know. The look on Bill's face told her that he wasn't and that maybe the second victim hadn't been so lucky.

"Dana, I was asked not to divulge anything until there was a Military investigation."

Scully's curiosity roused even more but she didn't inquire any further. It wasn't until the next afternoon that she returned to Washington. Kersh was informed about her absence and return time but Scully's mind was far too occupied to want to go back to work.

* * *

As she entered the office, Mulder was watching a small portable television. He looked up at her with a pained expression and turned the TV toward her. On it, was a news story from Baltimore.

_A man was brutally attacked and murdered on the USNS Comfort today and even though the Navy personnel are trying to keep a lid on it, our source has come forward to claim that this isn't even the first attack. _

Scully closed her eyes as the story droned on and Mulder finally spoke, "Is Bill alright?"

Scully's sea blue eyes opened, "Yeah, he had to get some stitches, but he isn't bad." She turned to her partner now, "I think this is actually the second death, Mulder." She said, pointing to the coverage on the TV screen, "Bill wouldn't tell me, but he was definitely hiding something serious."

When Mulder didn't speak for a long moment, Scully's voice came back stronger, "I want to go back out there, Mulder."


	2. Deeper Water

"Scully, we have no jurisdiction, no right to interfere, and interfering would probably end us in jail. We'll be promptly kicked out before we get within two hundred feet." Mulder argued suddenly realizing that this is what she must feel like when he went off on an illegal tangent.

"That's uncharacteristically pessimistic of you, Mulder." Scully said, disappointed, "Those arguments have never worked on you before." She allowed a hint of amusement into her voice as she produced a folded wad of papers.

Mulder opened the papers and scanned them, "Scully, I just got turned on." His hazel eyes were wide, "You pilfered Bill's medical charts?"

Scully gave him a smirk, but got right to the business of reading, "There was a toxin in his blood, a neurotoxin, not unlike that found in spiders and snakes that paralyze their prey." She pointed out.

Mulder's curiosity was definitely piqued, "That doesn't mean they'll just let us walk onto the base and investigate." Scully's blue eyes were looking at him imploringly, "We won't get anywhere, Scully." He told her, hating the disappointed look that followed his words.

"Not if the FBI publicly gave their assistance. It's already public and the Navy will want to look like they're doing everything they can." Scully suggested, making her own stomach turn. There would be nothing easy about forcing their way in, making Scully feel as if she were betraying her father and brother.

"But, we'll need FBI support for that and there is no way that Kersh will allow us to butt in." Mulder pointed out, ruefully. They both knew a man who might support them, but AD Skinner had already put himself on the line several times and it was a lot to ask him to do it again.

The phone rang and Mulder picked it up, "Agent Mulder, it's Marita Covarrubias." When Mulder said nothing, she went on, "The incident in Baltimore is not a coincidence and it's far from over."

"What do you mean it's not a coincidence?" He asked, urgently, his mind going to all kinds of conclusions.

"You have a small window, Mulder. Soon, they will shut down all the press and no one will know. Find a reason to go or else many others will die and be covered up." The dial tone sounded and Mulder slowly put down the phone.

"What?" Scully said, her voice edged with impatience.

"The incident in Baltimore was not a coincidence and it's not over." Mulder repeated.

Scully's mind flew to her brother, who would be back on duty soon, despite his injury. Mulder didn't give her time to say anything, however and moved passed her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he sidled by and headed toward the elevator. Scully didn't stop him, trusting him.

* * *

Mulder stepped into Skinner's office. Thankfully, his assistant had stepped away from her desk and he was able to escape detection. Much to his dismay, AD Kersh was already in Skinner's office. Mulder stopped in his tracks as both men looked up. Kersh gave the agent an expectant 'this had better be good' look and Skinner looked tense.

"Your assistant told me that I could find you here, sir." Mulder tried.

Kersh looked skeptical, "What can I do for you, Agent Mulder?"

"I'd like to request a case." He said, just diving in.

"Oh?" His deep voice reverberated in disapproval.

"Yes, sir. There has been an incident in Baltimore." Mulder thought quickly, "I have reason to believe that it's an X-File and that-"

He was interrupted, "Is this the incident on the Naval Base? That is not our jurisdiction, Agent."

Mulder was ready for that, "I've seen this type of thing before, sir and they won't know what they're dealing with."

"What type of 'thing' is it?" The Assistant Director was losing patience, Mulder could tell.

Mulder knew this was an exercise, knew that he would be forced to explain some strange thing and face the ridicule of Kersh about how outlandish his claim was. It was a dance he had to do with a gun firing at his feet. Mulder danced, "It fits a few profiles of things I have investigated before. It was late at night and it was reported to be an animal attack. It would have to be a very large and aggressive animal to kill two men."

"Two men?" Kersh's eyebrow rose and he gave Skinner a scathing glance, "I don't recall any reports of two deaths."

"Of course not, the military won't want to expose how little control they have over something killing their men." Mulder answered quickly, getting annoyed himself.

"Does this have to do with Agent Scully's brother being stationed there?"

Mulder sighed, "He was one of the men injured, but that doesn't discount the fact that these events are strange and I believe warrants investigation as an X-File. Whatever this was, it released a toxin that causes paralysis."

"Where did you get this information, Agent, Mulder?"

"I asked nicely for the medical report." He lied.

Kersh knew it was a lie, "There will be no investigation by the FBI, Agent Mulder. This is not FBI jurisdiction nor is it an X-File."

* * *

Mulder made his way back to the basement office. Scully was gone and his brow furrowed, wondering why she would leave when she had been waiting for Kersh's answer. It was just as well, he thought, the answer wasn't the one they had wanted. Rubbing his neck, he sat at his desk with a sigh. His phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket. The display said 'Scully' and he answered, "Scully?"

"Mulder, come outside, the east side of the building."

Mulder dropped the call and instantly followed his partner's instruction. A man stood with his partner and they were both clearly waiting for him. The man was probably in his mid-thirties with dusty blonde hair. As soon as he approached, both Scully and the man began to walk away and Mulder had no choice but to follow. Scully was generally not one for mysterious acts, so he didn't question her, despite his impatience.

Once they were well out of earshot of the building, Scully spoke in a low tone, "As soon as you went upstairs, I was paged from the information desk. This man claimed to be my brother, so they patched him through. He said he is the leak within at the Baltimore Naval Base and needs protection."

The explanation left Mulder with far more questions than answers, "How did you know where to find us?"

The young man cleared his throat, "I followed Agent Scully from Baltimore."

"Why?"

"Because more people are going to die if we don't expose it. Her brother is one of the main targets."

Scully had clearly already heard this, but her blue eyes filled with worry.

"Targets of whom?" Mulder continued.

"Who knows, Agent Mulder? I am only given what I need to know to continue on with their plans, but I get nothing more than that. I am a slave."

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, "Why are you telling us this?" Scully wanted to know.

"Because I'm afraid of the success of this project."


End file.
